Very detailed Africa travelogue with lots of information for anyone planning a trip. Indexed for easy reference. 11 Countries over 3 months.
3 months in Africa -- detailed travelogue, travel tips, indexed
Larry2006-05-27 03:11:54
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picture, I continued on into
town, noticing that the army was out patrolling the streets. Later, I asked
two officers (one black, one white) if there was trouble, but the reply was
that they were in town only to ensure the peace (which they did
successfully).
I checked into the Hantam Hotel, an interesting place run by a friendly
ex-Brit and his wife. They've been in South Africa for 15 years, and at
first, owned a hotel in another city before moving to Calvinia 4-5 years ago
to run the Hantam. The hotel itself is old and a bit run-down, but adequate
enough to spend the night in (though it's always an interesting sight to see
giant water-bugs not only in the shower, but come down into the toilet bowl
as you flush).
The hotel has an attached restaurant (the "Tropicana") where I ordered
calamari rings, thinking fish would be the healthy thing to eat. Wrong.
They were served fried -- as so many other foods in South Africa are. I'm
not sure if it's a British-influenced diet or not, but there is virtually no
emphasis on "low fat" or "healthy" in the country. Instead, emphasis is on
grease, frying, and fattiness (those "toasted" sandwiches will almost
certainly be grilled rather than dry-toasted). Pies are popular (curry pie,
mince meat pie, etc.), as is fast food -- and though McDonald's isn't yet on
every corner, local competitors such as Hungry Lion are prolific. This diet
shows in the local population, as many people (not just whites, but blacks
as well!) are overweight -- and ads for miracle diet solutions abound. This
was a stark contrast to some of the poorer African countries such as Malawi
or Zambia, where you'd almost never see anyone overweight. Other than diet
sodas though, trying to get low-calorie prepared foods in South Africa is an
impossible task. Another South African food quirk
...
See photographs from:
Botswana Gallery
,
Cape Verde Gallery
,
Kenya Gallery
,
Lesotho Gallery
,
Malawi Gallery
,
Mauritius Gallery
,
Swaziland Gallery
,
Tanzania Gallery
,
Zambia Gallery
,
Zimbabwe Gallery
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I just thought it might be helpful for you to know how i am finding your system.
Thank you
Susan J, 2008-01-28 14:00:20